Pelham police crack border burglary spree

PELHAM -- While a pair of busy burglars were taken off the streets north of Lowell and in Southern New Hampshire on Monday by a regional police task force, area residents should not delude themselves to think all daytime housebreaks in the area will now cease, police cautioned.

Matthew Szczechura, 29, of Pelham, and Jeffrey Lavoie, 26, of Hudson, N.H., were arrested together Monday at 5 p.m. during a vehicle stop on Mammoth Road, and charged with burglarizing at least two dozen homes in Dracut, Tyngsboro, Hudson and elsewhere in the region over the past six weeks. The crimes included four burglaries committed earlier Monday in Windham, Danville and Sandown, N.H., Pelham Police Lt. Brian McCarthy said.

Szczechura was charged with being a fugitive from justice (burglary warrant, Dracut), burglary, and conspiracy to commit burglary. Lavoie was charged with burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.

Evidence from Monday's four burglaries in Windham, Danville and Sandown was found on the suspects when they were stopped, McCarthy said, so police seized their vehicle pending a search warrant.

Further burglary-related charges are expected to soon be filed against the pair by Dracut, Tyngsboro, Windham, Hudson, Sandown and Danville police, McCarthy said.

At their joint arraignment Tuesday in Salem, N.H., District Court, Lavoie and Szczechura were ordered held on $20,000 cash bail each, before being transported to the Valley Street Jail in Manchester, according to the court clerk's office.

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The pair are next scheduled to appear at a probable-cause hearing on Feb. 27 at 10 a.m., also in Salem District Court.

McCarthy said detectives from a regional burglary task force confirmed that Szczechura and Lavoie were involved in at least 20 previous break-ins in Pelham, Hudson, Dracut and Tyngsboro.

"Due to the recent rash of approximately 35 daytime burglaries in Pelham, Hudson, Dracut and Tyngsboro, a regional burglary task force was formed," McCarthy said. "During most of the burglaries, the suspects used forced entry and targeted jewelry and electronics."

A key ingredient of the investigation was the cooperation of several area pawnshops, who provide police departments regularly with a "pawn list" detailing all items that were pawned recently, so that police can then compare the list with the descriptions of items taken in area burglaries, McCarthy said. After many of the items stolen in the multiple burglaries cited were found by detectives at local pawnshops, "detectives subsequently zeroed in on the two suspects believed to be committing a majority of these burglaries," McCarthy said.

"The regional task force was looking for these guys, so when they came through town (Monday evening) we grabbed them as they came into Pelham," said McCarthy. "The arresting officers found some items in the car that were from burglaries the suspects had done earlier in the day (Monday) -- four burglaries in Windham, Danville and Sandown.

"We closed those four burglary cases Monday night, and then 20 more burglary cases they are also believed to have committed have been closed. So... we're getting there," McCarthy added. "(Szczechura and Lavoie) are also suspects in several more unsolved burglaries in other area towns."

Lavoie appears to be the same Jeffrey Lavoie of Hudson, N.H. who was arrested as a 24-year-old in June 2010 jointly by Methuen and Hudson, N.H. police on a home-invasion charge for having broken into a Methuen residence while the home was occupied, Hudson Police Capt. William Avery reported.

McCarthy said he recently had a home-security alarm system installed in his own home. "Because I don't want to be that guy, that cop that gets his door kicked in while he's out patrolling the rest of the community," the lieutenant said.

If a resident does have a burglar alarm newly installed in their home they need to notify the Police Department about that, McCarthy advised. Pelham police are in the process of updating the town's alarm-permitting process, and will be posting a copy of the related ordinance on Pelham's official website in the coming week, McCarthy said.

Last week, Pelham police issued a public warning about a rash of five home burglaries that had occurred in the area in recent weeks, including on Atwood, Applewood and Lawrence roads. Investigators said Tuesday it was unclear if Szczechura and Lavoie were responsible for those break-ins.

"We're not sure on those yet, it might be a different group (of burglars) out and about," said McCarthy. "As much as I hate to say it, there's usually more than one group operating at any one time. It looks like these guys were only the most active."

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